Sport

Three-under 68 takes the Bath prize for Cirencester's Goodwin

ED GOODWIN from Cirencester bounced back to form to notch his first Gloucestershire and Somerset PGA Medal win of the season at Bath Golf Club.

The West Region PGA Captain chipped in, holed an approach shot and also produced a masterful putting display on his way to a three-under par 68.

This gave last season's Wormald and Partners Matchplay Champion a one-shot success over current Total Triumph Order of Merit leader Rod Hibbitt (Cotswold Edge) and Laurie Canter (Saltford).

Just a few days earlier the course at Sham Castle had been covered in a few inches of snow and the greenstaff deserve credit for delivering the course in such superb condition.

As has seemed to be the norm this season the weather decided the players weren’t going to have it easy and a stiff cold breeze blew down the course making scoring less than easy.

Goodwin, however, didn’t seem to have such problems as he opened his day with a chip in birdie at the 1st. Steady par figures followed before he gained a shot on the only par five on the front nine, with a four at the 6th. The downwind 9th was the second hole on his opening stretch where his putter was a redundant piece of equipment as his 120-yard approach found the bottom of the hole for an eagle and swiftly moved him four-under the card. A bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie sequence from the 12th maintained that position and he could even afford a dropped shot at the last as he took the win. His birdie and eagle haul also saw him share the birdie sweep pool with Giuseppe Licata on six.

Hibbitt, who has been the model of consistency this season, carded five birdies on the day but also crucially dropped a couple of shots on the closing run of holes. His high finish did, however, stretch his lead at the head of the Order of Merit to a healthy nine points over Licata.